Stolen artwork being used on play mats. Sold at multiple comic shops and vendor booths at conventions.

Vendors are told they have permission from the artists which may be true for a few that were questioned, but the majority did not know their art was used.
If you see these mats being sold, kindly remind your comic shop that they are not only bootlegs and unofficial but most of the art is stolen. Meaning the actual artists don't see a cent.

This is why I recommended a thread be closed just the other day. It was a thread about character creation ideas etc. But it's dangerous to post artwork, and story ideas because people will snatch up your work.

I remember seeing these artist and they do actually watermark them. However photoshop can remove these watermarks so it doesnt really matter. This sort of thing pisses me off as these artworks do take a lot of hardwork and experience. The best you really can do is raise awareness and hope the convention that is hosting this sort of thing does not support theft.

I remember seeing these artist and they do actually watermark them. However photoshop can remove these watermarks so it doesnt really matter. This sort of thing pisses me off as these artworks do take a lot of hardwork and experience. The best you really can do is raise awareness and hope the convention that is hosting this sort of thing does not support theft.

If they're easy to remove then you're doing it wrong. My watermarks would generally require the person to redraw most if not all of the image. I also incorporate my artist stamp into the picture itself some times. Most people aren't willing to put that kind of time and effort into stealing works.

The unfortunate part of the ease of access the internet gives us is that while it does give new artists a way to show off their creations and receive feedback things like this are always a possibility. I definitely would never condone such actions but I am also not sure how to ever really safeguard one's work from them either. Once it's up online it's virtually impossible to truly safeguard it.